Laughter Turned to Lessons

by Dovid Zaklikowski for Hasidic Archives

Sailing down the Dnieper River, Rabbi Dovber “Reb Volf” Kozvonikov, the rabbi of the Lubavitch community in Ekaterinoslav, never cut corners in his daily prayers. While others, faced with mockers, might have hidden their Jewish identity in public and hurried through their duties in private, he would have none of it.

He found a quiet spot on the deck and immersed himself in his morning study of Chasidism. Once finished, he wrapped himself in his tallis and tefillin as naturally as one would put on a warm coat.

From a distance, a group of bareheaded Jewish men, ashamed of their Jewishness, were looking for some entertainment. They approached Reb Volf, hoping to get a laugh at his expense. Instead, they encountered a sight unlike anything they had ever seen.

They themselves were accustomed to racing through their prayers, hardly aware of the words on their lips. But here was a man clearly in another world. Some words he uttered with joy, others with yearning. The melodies that flowed from his mouth were stirring. Yet all they noticed, at first, was an opportunity to mock a “holy man,” whom they imagined to be utterly removed from worldly pursuits and understanding.

When he finished his prayers, they approached him and said that as a holy man, they would like him to teach them something. He replied that he gladly would, but first they needed to cover their heads and be willing to listen with full attention. They went to fetch their hats and returned, still hoping to find something to laugh at.

There are three categories of people, he said, the righteous, the wicked, and the intermediate. What is the difference between the intermediate and the righteous? The intermediate person may desire to sin like the wicked, but refrains.

They listened with interest, but were caught off guard when he continued: The same is true with dogs. The righteous dog calmly stands guard at the door. The intermediate dog runs about and seems ready to bark, but remains quiet until someone trespasses on the property. Then there is the dog that roams the yard, barking at anyone who comes near the gate, even the kind man who is still yards away from the property line.

“There are those,” Reb Volf concluded, “who roam the deck like that wicked dog, looking for someone to bark at and ridicule. Do you really want to be that person?”

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